After suffering years of domestic abuse, Indian woman ends life in New York; FIR against husband, in-laws

An FIR was registered in the Najibabad area Bijnoor against the in-laws and husband of a woman who ended her life in New York on Wednesday alleging years of domestic abuse, police said.

Mandeep Kaur (30) allegedly died by suicide on August 3 after sending a video to her father in which she spoke about years of domestic abuse by her husband Ranjodhveer Singh Sandhu.

Kaur leaves behind two young daughters aged 4 and 6 years.

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On the compaint of the father of the deceased, an FIR has been filed against the husband under sections 306 (abetment to suicide) and 498A (dowry demand) of the Indian Penal Code, Najibabad police station in-charge Ravindra Kumar Verma said on Saturday.

Najibabad Circle Officer Gajendra Pal Singh said the police have also registered a case against the mother-in-law, father-in-law and brother-in-law of the deceased.

Kaur hanged herself after sending a video late in the night on August 2 , as per Indian time, said her father Jaspal Singh, a resident of Taharpur in Najibabad.

In the 2.49 minute video sent to him, Kaur has alleged that Ranjodhveer used to beat her daily, Singh said.

In the video, Kaur, seen crying and distressed, says she cannot take the abuse anymore and also talks about taking her own life.

She also alleged that Ranjodhveer had extramarital affairs with other women and used to beat her after drinking alcohol whenever she objected.

Singh said that in 2015, Mandeep was married to Ranjodhveer, a resident of Badhiya village in Najibabad and in 2018, both went to America.

Ranjodhveer had taken a truck on loan, Singh said, adding he also used to beat her daughter for demanding Rs 50 lakhs.

Kaur's post-mortem has been done and her husband is in police custody there, Singh added.

Indian Consulate in New York reacts

“We are deeply saddened by the death of Mandeep Kaur in Queens, New York under most tragic circumstances. We are in touch with the US authorities at Federal and local level as well as the community. We stand ready to render all assistance,” the Indian Consulate tweeted Saturday.